ellis bert marjorie 1974 korea

7/26/2019 Ellis Bert Marjorie 1974 Korea

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2/26

I. INTRODUCTION T

0

KOREA

-

Zll

Lnd-

Korea

i s

a

mountainous peninsula, on the average approxinately

500

miles long,

w h ic h

projects

southward from

the

continent

of

Asia. The

entire

country is

about the size

of

the

state of Minnesota. The total

area

of Korea

is

about 85^000 square

miles.

The

longest

distance

from

north

to south is about

600 miles and

the average distance from

east to west about

170

miles.

t

is such

a mountainous

country

that

it is estimated

that only

about

20% of the land

can be cultivated.

At

the

present time the

country

is

divided

almost

in

half

at

approximately

the

3Sth

parallel

into

Communist-dominated North Korea

and

the

Republic

of

Korea, commonly known

as

South Korea. To visualize

South

Korea, it is

about the

same

size as

the

state

of Ind

iana. Lying between the 30th and 36th parallels of northern

latitude,

the

climate

is

very similar

to

that of

the

middle-western United

States

north of

the

Ohio River.

There

are 4 seasons

with

somewhat severe winters in the north and

relatively

mild in the south.

The average annual

rainfall in Korea is about 40 inches although

some parts

in

north

ern Korea get less than

half

that much. There is a rainy season in the

southern

section

and there

it

is

not at all

unudual

for 10 times

as

much rain to fal in July as in

Janu

ary. Winter is

the

dry

season.

Summer

temperatures are about

the same as

those of the

east

coast of the United States, with the average summer temperature running

about 75-60

degrees.

The Korean peninsula is bounded

on

the north by

Manchuria and

Siberia;

on

the east by

the

Sea

of

Japan;

on

the

south by

the

narrow

Korean Strait;

on

the

west

by

the Yellow

Sea.

North Korea,

before

the division,

contains 80% of

hea-vy

industries

and

hydro-electric

power facilities, and

80-85^

of

mineral resources:

South Korea

is

predominantly ag

ricultural,

containing

lighter industries and

such

natural resources

as

cement, anthra

cite coal and

tungsten.

The Korean people are of an ancient and homogeneous race, distinct from both the Chi

nese and

the Japanese.

Thought to have descended from

two racial

strains,

the nomadic

tribes of Mongolia and

the

Caucasians of western Asia,

the

Koreans thus have both Occi-

dental

and Oriental characteristics. /

Based

on

the

latest

available

figures.

South Korea

has

a

population

of

approximately

25-27,000,000

people.

There are

approximately

1,000,000 more women than men. Physic

ally, the people

are generally

larger and stronger than

most

Oientals

and can be

dis

tinguished by various physical characteristics.

According

to

the census

of

i949

the

density of population then was about 554 persons

per square mile, which was then one of the highest in the world. Although

no officia

figures are now available it s estimated that

this

figure

has now risen

considerably,

perhaps

to

as mu ch as 750

per

square mile due

to the

influx

of refugees

from North

Korea

fleeing from Communism.

The

tradtiona

dress of Korea

consists

of loose vAiite robes

and

wide trousers for

the men and

short,

close fittingjackets and vividly colored long, ful skirts for the

women.

However, VJestern influence

is

causing this traditional dress

to

slowly

become

less popular,

especially

in

the cities, where many people

wear Western style

clothes.

Rice,

fish,

poultry,

vegetables

and

fruit

are

the

principal

foods

in

the

Korean

diet,

with ride

being the basic

diet of

the majority

of

the

people.

Aside from rice

the

most

popular side

dish is kimchi,

a highly-spiced,

pickled

combination of cabbage,

radish

es, onions and

other vegetables. The diet

of Korea is quite distinct from that of China

or

Japan.

Japan

uses m u c h

raw fish and sweetened things.

China

uses

m u c h

oil in cook

ing.

In

Korea, the basic

table setting for the individual

consists

of

a large bowl

of

boiled rice

(about

two large cups

of cooked rice),

and

a

bowl

of

soup, usually made

of

fish stock

rather than

meat

stock. There

will then

be a

variety of cooked

or pickled

side

dishes to eat with the

rice,

the

pickles being on a

brine

basis, with mu ch use of

garlic and

red

pepper.

Tj ere

are many

variants of these.

As w e have mentioned before,

the

basic

ingredients of the pickle, kimchi,

are Chinese

cabbage

and

a

large

vdiite

radish

or

turnip. In November every

household is busy

putting

up its

winter supply of

kimchi,

packed in

earthen

jars, to

last them until spring. During the

rest

of the

year,

the

pickle

is

made

from

day

to

day,

lest

it

spoil.

Barley

and

millet

are

eaten


3/26

Korea

... age 2

V i j h e n necessary, but

are

not considered

real substitutes for

rice. It

i s

quite possible

to

get

a balanced diet by the use of the elements i n the

Korean diet,

but it is hardly

satisfying

or

appetizing to

one

accustomed

to Western

style food.

The Korean

children

entertain themselves

i n

much

the

same

way as

American children

do.

The little

girls

have

see-saw,

singing,

rope-jumping,

swinging

etc.,

and play house just

like

li ttle American gi rls. The boys occupy themselves, among other things, with kite

flying

and various h a l l - g a l n e s . Most of the

Korean games

test

strength,

agility or per

ception.

As

a result

of

the

Korean V J a r there

were nearly 100,000 Korean orphans

and

some 284,

000

widows with

517,000

dependent children. More

than 1,000,000 South

Korean civi lians

lost their li ves

and anothe r 1,000,000

were

wounded, or became

invalid

or

just si mply

disappeared.

3. Goyernment-

Under

the auspices

of

the United Nations, the first

representative government

i n Kor

ea'

s

4,000 years

of

recorded

history

came

into

being

i n

July, 194, after 40 ears of

domination

by the Japanese, follovred by 3

ears

of

American

military government.

Th e

Republic

of

Korea, founded through free

elections,

was formally inaugurated on August 15,

1948,

with Dr. Syngman

Rhee serving as the first

President. The

Russians,

occupying

the

northern part

of

Korea, refused

to

permit partici pation in

the

electi ons, and set

up

a

puppet Communist government north

of

the 38th

parallel. The government

and

constitution

of

the Republic were somewhat simi lar to the American government and constitution, with

provisions for separate legislative, executive and judicial branches.

This government remained

in

power until

the

spring of

1959

when

a revolution

led by

Korean students

overthrew

the government. This revolution was induced by continued and

increasing

corruption i n the government. After a

short

time under

an interim

government

by

the

military,

electi ons were again held, some changes

were made i n

the constitution

and

form

of government and John Chang

was

elected chief executive.

The new government

was unable to

get

a majority

in the

legislative

branch

to support

its

program

and angered

by the governments' inability to function,

a

military committee of high-ranking officers

took over the governmant in

an

almost bloodless

coup

in the spring of 1961. The

leader

of this government is G eneral Pak

Chung

Hee. This government is now in power but is per-

nitting

political activity and has

promised

there will be

elections

i n

the fall

of 1963

and a new civi lian government i^l ake over

on

or about January

1,

I964.

4. Culture-

The flexibility

a n d

facility

of

the Korean language,

its

scientific, p h o n e t i c alphabet

and

the

early

invention of

movable

type

and

good

paper

have provided a

strong

foundation

for Korean

culture.

The

Korean alphabetic

script,

known

as "hangul," was

invented about 1450 A.D,

by

King

Seijong

and

a group

of Korean scholars. The Korean language i ncludes

many

words based

on

Chinese

character

roots,

and it is the custom to

write

many of the Chinese-based

words

i n

Chinese characters, while the

rest

of the sentence (noun and

verb

endings etc.), are

written

i n the

Korean

"hangul"

script. The grammatical structure of

the

language i s

def

i nite ly Korean. Its most

prominent characteristic

is the use

of numerous

noun and verb

endi ngs which take the place

of

preposi tions, conjunctions, relative pronound and case

and tense

endings i n other languages.

Another

characteristic

is the

use

of

honorific

words and endi ngs

to

indicate

the degree of

politeness toward

the

person

spoken to or

about:

i n

other words, v r t i e n

speaking to an

older

person or one of higher position you

would use one form, for

one of

the same age or

position as

the speaker another

form i s

used, and for

one

of

younger age or lower

position

still another form is

used.

This then

means that there are three ways of

saying

the same thing. The Korean alphabet

i s an i n

genious

and

simple system which should

have long ago

made Korea one

of

the

most literate

nations

on

earth.

Unfortunately,

its very

simplici ty worked

against

it,

for the scholars

who

had spent ye ars learning

the

intricacies of

the

Chinese

characters

and classics had

a

vast contempt

for a

system of writing that "eve n a woman could

learn," with

the

result

that "hangul" was largely neglected until the coming

of

the fi rst

Protestant

missionaries

in 1884. It should

be

noted

that among the many

preparations

v i i i c h

the Lord appears to

have made for the opening of

Korea

to

the

Gospel was this dormant system of phonetic


4/26

Korea... aS 3

v/riting, ready to

hand^

i n which

the

X i i - s t Gospel in Korean was pi'inted. From this

be

ginning,

the use of hangul" spread rapidly,

particularly

i n

Christian

circles, in the

Bible and other books used by the church and i n

the

schools conducted by

the

Christian

community. The first

newspapers

i n the

country were

printed i n "hangul"

and i t

has

proved one of the most i mportant elements i n

the

educational growth i n

the

country. As

for the

spoken

language, there

i s only

one

language for all Korea,

with

only

minor

diff

erences

i n

accent and usage,

such

as

we find in various

parts of

the United

States.

In the fine arts, the

Koreans

have achieved a distinguished place

among

Oriental ci v

ili zations. The Korean

culture i s an

ancient one. Painti ng was

appreciated at an

early

date, but little of i t survived destruction by wind and rain. The most notable excep t

ions

are the mural paintings in

the

stone

tombs

of the 3rd to

6th

century

Koguryo

Dyn

asty.

These

show examples of

a highly

developed

pictorial

art in

a distinctive style,

creati ons which surpass anything known elsewhere in the Far East for that period.

There

are ancient bells,

such as the

Kyungju bell, cast i n

773

weighing about 79 tons. Th e

porcelains of the Koryu period (918-1392),

are

among the finest in the world. It is

known that the lovely Satsuma china

of

Japan is produced by the descendants of

the

Kor

ean potters whom

the

Japanese

emperor, Hi deyoshi,

transported to

Japan

i n

1592. An

early

stone

astronomical

observatory still

stands

at

Kyungju, dating from

647. Rain

gauges were i n use i n the various

provinces

i n

1442,

two centuries before

they

were

in

use

in Europe. The invention

of the

"hangul" alphabet in

1442,

while

Korea's neighbors

were still

using the

complicated Chine se characters was

a

major

achievement.

The use of

moveable

metal

type

for

printing

was known

as

early

as

1250,

before Gutenberg

began

us

ing

it in Europe. An encyclopedia was

compiled

a long

time before there

was

such

a com

pilation

i n the

Western

world.

The

invention

of

the first iron-clad

warship, the

famous

"turtle-boat"

by Admiral Yi Soon Sin,

i n

1592,

made possible

the only defeat the Japan

ese

navy

ever suffered until

V i o r l d

War

II.

And

this

was long before the "Monitor"

and "Merrimac" of our

own Civil V / a r

fame. T j ^ g s e are achievements, among

many

others, of

which

the

Korean

people

have

a

right

to be proud.

Of the speci al and mi nor arts

of

Korea, the manufacture

of

lacquerware i s one of the

oldest. The restraint

of design i n

the earli est lacque r pi eces shows

the

distinctive

artistic

feeling which

i s characteristic of the finest

Korean art.

Korea's cultural monimients, temples and other

ancient architectural remnants

are the

indications of

the development

through centuries

of a highly cultivated

civilization.

The period since Liberation (1945)

has

seen a remarkable revival of

many

Korean folk

arts, such

as the

annual national archery contests, the poetry contests, the schools

for

the

study

of

Korean folk music and dances, and a revival

of ancient

Korean ceramic

styles. In a more

modern mood,

a

movie

industry has developed,

some of

v i i o s e work

com

pares

favorably with

that

from other

countries

and

has

won awards

i n

the

annual

Asian

Film Festival.

5.

5.2IiS,Y~'

Though naturally a wealthy peni nsula, rich

in mi neral

resources and with

good agri

cultural lands, Korea has suffered from

a

generation of Japanese e3q)loitation, the un

natural 38th parallel divi sion of

the nation,

the

unparalleled devastation

of the

war,

and an

influx of some

6,000,000 refugees, fleei ng from Communism, into

the

overcro-wded

southern provinces. The Korean people, aided by over one and

a

third billion dollars

in

aid funds from the United States and

United

Nations, are laboring

to

overcome

these

difficulties.

As we have pointed out,

most heavy

industry, including

mineral

processing

and

hydro

electric power

production,

was

located i n the northern

half

of the country, (now North

Korea), v^ile the

lighter

consumer

goods and

processing industries were concentrated in

the predominantly agricultural south. Most

of

the production facilities in South Korea

were

destroyed

during the

war.

Howeve r, thanks to the Korean reconstruction projects

of

the United States

and

United

Nations,

flour mi lls, cement plants, glass factorie s,

and

electric

power

plants

have been built, among many others,

and

are now in operation, with

other

such

projects

planned

or under construction.

We

have said that

South

Korea

i s

predominantly agricultural,

with rice

the primary

food crop. The

driest

month is

May, when

the farmers anxiously wait for the heavy rain

fall of the rainy season which makes it possible for

Korea

to be a rice-producing

count

ry. In the

souther part

of the

country,

2

rops

a

year

are raised,

-v^erever

possible.


5/26

Korea

. - age 4

Winter barley

is

planted in

November,

irranediately

after

the

fall

rice is

harvested.

This comes up in the spring, and is

harvested

about the middle

of

June. Meanwhile, rice

seed-beds have been planted and, as

soon

as

the

barley

is

harvested, the rice

is

trans-

planted into

these

fields,

to

be harvested

in

October.

In spite

of the fact

that the major cities of Korea

have grown treme ndously,

the

cap

ital

city of

Seoul

having

a

population of 2,000,000

and the

second

city, Pusan,

having

a

population of 1,500,000 it

is

still true that 75^ of the people live in country villages

and earn their

living

by farming. The farms are small, the

largest

only a few acres

and

the average farm

a

bit less

t f e r a n 1

cre.

Rice

is

grown v^erever

water can

be

obtained

for paddy fi elds, the

mountains being terraced

as far up as irrigation

can reach.

The

annual

y i e l d

of

rice

is

approximately 14^000,000 "suk," ( l "suk" is about 5 bushels).

On

these small farms,

mechanical farm

machinery i s dmpractical and

too

expensive

to use.

The

work of ploughing

i s done by the

faithful

ox,

pulling a wooden

plough,

while

the

rest

of the farming

work of

seedi ng, transplanting,

weeding and

harvesting

is

done by

hand. Aside from rice, the chie f crops are barley, wheat, millet, corn and potatoes.

There i s also an

expanding

fruit culture,

particularly

of

peaches and very

fine

apples.

Such vegetables as

cabbage,

onions, turnips, spinach

etc.

are also

raised.

Livestock

has

traditi onally bee n

raised

for the

sake

of draft animals for the farm, rather than

for meat.

In recent years some cattle have been brought i n

for

dairy use, and much i s

being done to improve the strains

of

poultry, pigs and goats.

Next after agriculture, the fishing industry i n the waters around Korea offers the

greatest opportunity

for the

economic developnent

of the

nation.

Both the cost

of

meat

and the difficulty of

refrigeration put beef

and pork

beyond

the means of the average

family

but

fresh and salted

fish

products provide much of

the

protein i n

the Korean

diet.

The coastline of Korea,

including

the innumerable islands, bays and inlets, i s very long

about

11,000

miles. Also,

off

the

coasts

cold and x^rm

currents

meet,

an

ideal condit

ion

for

fishing

grounds. There

are more than

75 varieties of edible

fish in

Korean

wat

ers, 20

varieties

of

shell-fish,

15 kinds

of

algae, and many

varieties

of sea animals

and useful

plants.

6.

Education

The figures in

this

paragraph are taken from

a

19

^ report,

the

latest available to

us.)

Education in Korea is

compulsory between

the ages of

6

nd 11, (theoretically, but

not

always

i n

practice.) In 195S there were 650,000 children

enrolled

in the

1st

grade

of 6-year elementary schools,

and the

total number of school children (1-6

grades) was

3,620,000

which

was almost 3 imes as many as at the time of the

Liberation

in 1945

There

are 1,013 3-year

middle-schools

(junior high) and 623 3-year high schools.

Establishments for higher education in Korea

include

18 universities, 33 colleges,

and 10 unior colleges. In

195B the total

number of students

in

Korean universities was

estimated at approximately 88,000

- his

being about 4.2^ of the student population.

Of

these, approximately

10,500

were women. Seoul National University, Yunsei University,

Korea University,

and Ewha

Womens' University

have

been

the best known

degree-granting

institutions. (It has been our observation

that

the

better

colleges compare favorably

with A j j ^ e r i c a n colleges

but

are behind in some departments, chiefly the sciences.)

5, H e i . I I

"

The Korean people have always been extraordinarily

fond

of

music,

singing

and

dancing.

In

the

peak period of their culture,

the

five string harp,

the flute, as well

as

drums

and cymbal and other percussion instruments were played.

On the

occasion of various

festivals,

such as

New Year's Day, Swing Day, and Eighth

Full Moon Festival,

which

are

observed

on the ancient

lunar calendar,

traditional sing

ing and dancing events take place everywhere in urban and

rural

communities.

The Korean people are perhaps not as sports mi nded as Americans but they do enjoy

soccer, baseball, basketball, boxing, wrestling, archery contests, kite-flying contests

and

a

unique

kind of bull-fight in

which

two bulls vi e against each other. Swinmi ng is

a

favorite

recreation

in

the

summer.

The older men play a fom f chess for

hours at

a time and both men and

women

play

card

games of various

kinds.

There

is no TV

except

one

government station

in Seoxil but

there i s

radio and movie theaters which

show

both foreig n and Korean produced films.


6/26

Korea

.

.. - age 5

8. Religion-

The religious life of

Korea has

had

three

traditi onal expressions: Buddhism^ Confuc

iani sm, and Shamanism or spirit-worship. Of these.

Shamanism

i s the

oldest

and most

commonly followed even today, although

it, too, is rapidly dying out

among

the

younger,

educated people. A prominent Korean histori an and

theologian,

L.

George

Paik,

writes,

"It

comprises

a

vast number of gods, demons and demi-gods, the legacy of centuries of

nature-worship .. . hose powers for good

or

evil demand worship.

An

intelligent Kor

ean would maintai n that he does not worship the materi al object

but

the i nner spiri tual

presence

. .

.

ut for the

average

Korean, his

worship

is

an

expression

of fear.

He

prays for

personal benefit

and

for

relief from trouble, but is little concerned with

moral character." There i s a wide variety

of

feti shes, charms and other symbols used.

There are, for example, spirits of disease and spirits of the

mountain passes, often

re-

siding in certain rocks and tree s and other objects. There

are

women, known as

"moodangs," who are considere d expert i n dri ving out spiri ts which trouble their clients

There are blind men, also, known as

"pansoos," who are fortune-tellers

and

are

consulted

on many occasions. Certain local shrines are

connected

with phases of this worship.

There

are thought to be thousands of

spirits

to be

placated

and the matter of keeping

on

the right side

of

them is

very

complicated. It i s not strange that this should be a re

ligion of

fear.

One of

the

early

missionaries

said that one thing that

attracted

the

Korean i n

the

Gospels

was

that, as

he

read them,

he

found himself

on

familiar ground,

for

there were

stories

about

demons here, and he knew

about

demons.

But

the attractive

thing about

the

Gospels

was that the

record there

was of

demons

on

the r\m,

and

the

Kor

ean

was interested i n findi ng out about a religion that would have the power

to

put dem

ons

on

the run for him, alsoI

Buddhism

came

to

Korea i n

372

A.D.,

and

was later passed on

to Japan

i n 552. The

basic idea of Buddhism

is

a desire

to

rid

the

world

of

evil.

The

root of evil

is

consid

ered to

be desire. V - I e

desire things,

or power, to the

point v A i e r e we

lie, steal, kill

etc.,

i n

order to

get what

we

desire.

If you

eliminate

the desire, you then

automatic

ally

eliminate

the evils caused by it,

according

to Buddhism. The goal of Buddhism,

therefore, is to rid men of desire . Buddhi sm flourished i n Korea during

the

Koryu per

iod, (9I8-I392), and became

qui te powerful

in

political affairs. The abuse

of this i n

fluence caused the nex t dynsaty, the Yi

ynasty, to

outlaw

Buddhism

and

to

install Con

fucianism as the

state

religion.

Confucianism, properly speaking, is not

a

religion but

a

system

of

moral teaching and

behaviour, based on the Five Relations:

king-subject,

parent-child , husband-wife, elder

and younger brother, and friend and friend.

It

i s not

known

exactly when

Confucianism

came to Korea, but early immigrants from China must surely have brought i t with them.

Confucius,

a great

Chinese moral teacher who lived from 551-479 B.C.

was

almost an

agnostic in spiri tual matters.

His

general attitude was

that

one

should take care

of

his

obligations in

this world first, before

getting

too involved i n

discussions of

beli ef regarding heaven and

any

future li fe.

Dp. Paik

says of him, Confucius himself

gave little light on the

problems

of God, soul or

immortality."

Of the Five Relation

ships,

the

one which received the greatest stress in actual practice is the

relation of

parent

and

child (father

and

son). The practical e j q ^ r e s s i o n of this relationship i s

found in the worship of ancestors. Confucius

himself

did not teach or practice ancestor

worship He

felt that the family was

the

fundamental unit

of society

and that

filial

piety was the

source

of all

virtues. Consequently, to have one

or

more sons was regard

ed as

a

great blessing, and this became the

main

purpose of marriage. If

a

marriage did

not produce

sons,

then

a

second

wife

was taken who could provide one, for only the sons

were qualified to offer the

ceremonies

at the

grave

of the ancestors which would enable

the

departed

souls

to rest

in peace. For the past 500 years Confucianism has powerfully

influenced the

thinki ng and

conduct

of

Korea.

Dr. Paik

says,

"There

was much

that

was

splendid and

admirable in Confucianism

at its

best. As

practiced in Korea, however, it

had

many deplorable results:

it

nourished pride, it taught no higher ideal than that

of

the

superior

man,

and

was agnostic

and atheistic in

tendency;

it encouraged

selfishness,

exalted filial piety

to

the position of the highest virtue and made this hide a multi

tude of sins;

i t imbued every

follower with

a

hunger

for

office which resulted

i n

simony

and sinecure. Religiously, the system taught nothing that does not go beyond what is

known

and

seen. Consequently,

i t

avoided philosophical speculation;

it enfeebled or de-


7/26

Korea

.

..- age 6

Their

It was

stroyed the faculty of

faith,

for its doctrine required no exercise of belief. ..ow

ever, it should be

remembered

that it was

Confucianism

that formed the character

of

the

people

and shaped

the course of the ancient civil izat ion

of

Korea."

In actual practice, the three religi ons - uddhism, Confucianism, and Shamanism -are

mixed up

together

and the

same person finds himself involved i n

all

three, according to

the circumstances

of the

moment. At

times, he will take

part in

the ceremonies of an

cestral worshi p,

at

times

will

offer Buddhi st prayers,

at times

will call

on

the "moo-

tang" for help in placating the spirits that threaten hi s safety and happiness. The

three

are

not mutually incompatible.

The

Roman

Catholics were

the first

proponents

of

Christianity

to enter Korea,

first missionaries

came i n 1592

but Christianity

did

not take hold at

that

time,

not

until about the

middle of

the 18th

century that Catholicism began to

take

hold.

The first

Protestant

missionaries to Korea were

the

Presbyterians i n 1884

and the

Methodists

i n

1885- Since

that

time many of the major

denomi nations have sponsored

missions in Korea with

greater

or lesser success. The latest official

governmental

figures which we have available indi cate that i n 1954 there were 849^608

Protestants

and

166,732 Catholics in

Korea.

We would assume these figures to be higher

today.

Of

course,

no figures are

now available for Communist

North

Korea.

The Presbyterians

are by

far

the largest and most

influential denomination.

This i s

due i n

part to

the fact

that

they were the

first

to

establish a work

i n

Korea.

Perhaps

another reason

for

their dominance

i s

their

early

entrance

into the

field of education

i n

Korea.

Many

of

those

who are leaders i n

various

fields

of

Korean

life,

although

not

themselves Christians, were

educated i n Presbyterian schools and have some appreciation

for Christianity.

+ + + + + + + +++ + +

II. PERSONAL

COMMENTS

AND

OBSERVATIONS-

If we had been asked 15 years ago where Korea was located most

of

us would have had a

difficult time answering. However, today we all feel that we know quite a bit about Korea

due

to

the publicity i t

received

during the Korean

War

and due

to

the fact

that

most of us

had some frie nd

or

relative who served in

the

armed forces there d uring that war.

V . ' h e n we went to

Korea

in the spring of 195B we felt

that

we were pretty well informed

for we had talked to a number of

people

who had been there and had read numerous publicat

ions about the land and the people. Within a few weeks, however,

we

found that

we

had

arrived

i n

Korea

with

many

misconceptions.

It is with this

experience of ours in

mind that

we offer

these

personal comments,

hop

ing that they will

serve

to give you a better picture of the land and

the

people. A

num

ber

of the

things

we

will take up here we

have covered

factually in

the first part

of

this

s y l l a b u s ,

(l.

I N T R O D U C T I O N T O

K O R E A ) , b u t

p e r h a p s o u r p e r s o n a l r e a c t i o n

to t h e

f a c t s

d e

picted there will be

of

some value to

you.

Situation-

Somehow many of us

have picked up the

idea,

either

consciously

or

unconsciously,

that the

Koreans

are

an

uneducated, uncultured,

almost uncivilized people.

Nothing

could be further

from

the

truth.

The Koreans

have

a cultural heritage

of

which they

can

be

justly proud. It

is

difficult

to compare

with

our own Western culture because

it is so

completely

different, but just

because

i t is

different

does not mean that it

i s necessarily inferior. In at least some respects i t is definitely superior to that

of

the V/estern world.

Perhaps the first thi ng that we should reali ze is that Korea i s an old country, and

when

we use the term

"old"

here we must define our

usage,

for

"old"

i n

Korea and "old"

i n the United States are two different things. If we push

our own

history back

as far

as Columbus

i n 1492, which i s stretching i t considerably,

we

still only have a historic

al heritage

of

some

500

years, while

the

Koreans have

a

recorded history

of

about

4^000

years. Here we consider something

that

i s 100 years old to be a priceless antique,

while

to

the Korean,

100 years i s

but as

yesterday.

V J e

have been

taken

by

our frie nds

i n Korea

to

see buildi ngs and monuments that are over

1,000

years

old and

to the V/estern

mind this is

difficult

to

comprehend. We need

to

keep this in mind

when

i t

seems

to us

that change comes so slowly i n Korea.


8/26

Korea. . . age 7

As

we

have pointed out previously i n

this

syllabus, such evidences

as the

Koreans'

use

of moveable type, the compiling of

an

encyclopedia, the

use

of iron-clad

ships,

scientific discoveries such as astronomical observatories

and

the use of

rain

gauges,

many of

these

things

before their di scovery

and use i n

the

Western

world,

give evidence

of a creative, i nventive life, and a

cultural

heritage of worth and value .

It has

only been

in

recent years, especially since the Industrial Revolution

in the

V J e s t , that Korea has fallen behind. There are a number of

reasons

for this, particular

ly a

number

of unfortunate entanglements

with China and Japan several

hundred

years ago

v i i i c h

caused

the

Koreans

to

withdraw from

any

contact with other countries and

to

be

come

known as

"The

Hermit

Kingdom." This

continued until

the

past 100 years.

Once again let us

point

out that although the

culture

of Korea i s

completely

differ

ent

from

that to

which

we are accustomed,

i t

i s

not necessarily

inferior just because

it is different.

2. Political Situation-

As we have indi cated concerning the

cultural

situation, the politi cal situation i n

Korea, (and

almost any other

situation), is c o m p l e t e l y different from that which we are

accustomed

to in

the

United

States.

To even try to understand the

present

politi cal situation in Korea it i s necessary

to keep i n mind the past centuries of her political history.

Seldom

has this little

country known what it was to have any

real

freedom

and

certainly not in the

immediate

past which i nfluences its political present. For centuries

Korea

has been a

political

football, fought

over

and tossed back and forth between the dominant Chinese and Japan

ese empires. First one and then the other exercised a controlling i nterest over

Korea.

At

the conclusion

of

the Russo-Japanese

War in

1905, Japan

was

allowed by the

world

powers

to

take over

Korea as a

protectorate." During

the next 5

years they gradually

increased their domination and finally,

i n 1910,

they formally annexed Korea. "The Jap

anese policy i n Korea following

the

annexation was both ruthless and effective. Japan

promptly brought numerous Japanese

officials,

farmers and

laborers

into every section

of

the peninsula

to

take over all

governmental

functions and

to

establish her grip over

social and

economic li fe

of the Korean people. Colonial

exploitation

followed. Law and

order,

plans

and regulati ons were promulgated but never was one designed to

benefit

Kor

eans. All the political rights and

economic

privileges were enjoyed exclusively

by

the

Japanese themselves, v i i i l e the life

of

the average

Korean was limited

to

bare existence.

Consequently,

the

Koreans

bitterly resented

the alien rule and denial

of

civi l liberties

but hardly

could

do

anything

under the police and mili tary." All

political

activity

was

prohibited

and when rebellion

did

break out

thousands of Koreans were slaughtered or

put

i n

prison.

Meetings, speeches

and

all printed

matter

had

to

undergo scrupulous police

censorship. This politi cal oppression went side by side with economic exploitation.

The Japanese missed no opportunity to crush all forms of nationalistic thinki ng and made

every effort to transform the minds of the

Koreans

to fit them for

abject

servitude to

the

conquerors.

During World V J a r

II

the Japanese

government

forcibly mobilized thous

ands

of

Korean youths as

mili tary and labor slaves

and desperately engaged i n

developing

heavy

industries

for war purposes,

completely

stripping Korea of her mineral and forest

products as well

as

large

quantities

of food and

clothing.

It was during this period

that the

Japanese so i ntensifie d their exploitation

of

Korea in every

field that the li v

ing standard of the average Korean, not high to begin with, dropped sharply.

If

we

will keep in mind that

everyone

i n Korea

now

above the

age

of 25 can well

re

member

those days of

Japanese

rule

it

will

help us i n

understanding some of the

prevail

ing attitudes among the Koreans.

As we have poi nted out previously, Korea

was

liberated from

the

Japanese after V / o r l d

War II and

a

democratic government,

with Dr. Syngjnan

Rhee at its

head,

was

formed i n

194S.

In 1950, the Soviet-trained North

Korean

army began

an

unprovoked attack upon South

Korea. This

war lasted until

July, 1953 and

was brought

to a

close by

an

armistice

aggreement

which was

completely

unacceptable to South Korea, but they could not continue

when the United

Nations and the

United

States

would

not

support

them

further in the

con

flict.


9/26

Korea...-

age

8

The tragedy

of that war^ which

definitely affects

all the

areas

of

life

in

Korea

to

day,

can be shown

in a

few figures: more than

30,000 Americans

were killed

and

thousands

of

others wounded;

the

casualties

suffered by

troops of 15 U.N. countries were

not

small.

B u t t h e m o s t t o

s u f f e r w e r e

t h e

K o r e a n s t h e m s e l v e s . No e x a c t f i g u r e

i s

a v a i l a b l e

t o

t e l l

t h e h e a v y

l o s s o n t h e C o m m u n i s t s i d e . S o u t h K o r e a n f o r c e s s u f f e r e d

n e a r l y

3 0 0 , 0 0 0

c a s u a l t i e s , i n c l u d i n g t h e

k i l l e d ,

w o u n d e d

a n d m i s s i n g .

F u r t h e r ,

a b o u t 1 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 K o r e a n

c i v i l i a n s w e r e k i l l e d ;

m o r e t h a n 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 b o y s

a n d g i r l s w e r e o r p h a n e d ;

m i l l i o n s

w e r e

l e f t h o m e l e s s . T h e

w h o l e

c o u n t r y w a s a L n o s t

c o m p l e t e l y

d e v a s t a t e d a n d i t w i l l b e m a n y ,

many

years before i t recovers.

And

nothing was settled;

an

uneasy

t i u c e still continues

mth powerful, modern armi es sti ll facing each other across

a few

miles

of a

demilitar

i z e d

z o n e a l o n g t h e 3 S t h p a r a l l e l at a b o u t t h e m i d d l e

of

the p e n i n s u l a .

T h e R h e e g o v e r n m e n t w a s

i n

p o w e r w h e n

w e a r r i v e d

i n

1 9 5 8 .

A l t h o u g h

t h e f o r m of the

g o v e r n m e n t

was

democratic, in actuality it d i d not function that way. A s t r o n g national

p o l i c e f o r c e

k e p t

t h e p e o p l e

i n

s u b j e c t i o n . T h e

g o v e r n m e n t

w a s c o n t r o l l e d

b y a few

m e n .

T h e r e w a s n o

r e a l

f r e e d o m o f s p e e c h o r p r e s s . C o r r u p t i o n i n t h e g o v e r n m e n t ,

w h i c h

h a s

b e e n t h e c u r s e

o f O r i e n t a l

s o c i e t y f o r c e n t u r i e s , w a s s e e n

o n e v e r y

h a n d , a n d a l t h o u g h

t h e

p e o p l e d i d not l i k e

it,

they w e r e f o r c e d

t o a c c e p t i t

t h r o u g h

f e a r of

r e p r i s a l .

Re

s e n t m e n t a n d d i s a p p r o v a l h a d g r o w n g r a d u a l l y a n d

f i n a l l y , i n

the s p r i n g

of

1959, t h e p e o

ple,

l e d

by

t h e h i g h s c h o o l

a n d c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s ,

b e g a n to

h o l d p u b l i c d e m o n s t r a t i o n s

a g a i n s t t h e

g o v e r n m e n t .

T h e s e w e r e

p u t

d o w n

i n

a s e r i e s

o f

b l o o d y r i o t s

by

t h e n a t i o n a l

p o l i c e , b u t t h e

s l a u g h t e r

o f m a n y o f

K o r e a ' s f i n e s t

y o u n g m e n

f i n a l l y

a r o u s e d t h e K o r e a n

p e o p l e

a s

a

w h o l e

a n d

i n A p r i l ,

1 9 5 9

t h e R h e e

g o v e r n m e n t

w a s

o v e r t h r o w n .

M a n y o f

t h e

o f f i c i a l s w e r e e x e c u t e d

o r

p u t i n p r i s o n

a n d

R h e e h i m s e l f

w a s

f o r c e d t o s e e k

p o l i t i c a l

a s y l u m i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . T o

a n

A m e r i c a n v r f i o h a d

never s e e n

such

a n upr i s ing

it w a s

a

s o m e w h a t disconcer t ing

thing

to

live

t h rough these days of rebellion. M a n y of th e

students with

v A i o m

w e worked took part in t hese demonstrations a n d w e w e r e c lose e n o u g h

on o c c a s i o n to h e a r t h e g u n s h o t s of

t h e

police.

military committee took control until e lec t ions could b e held

again

a n d in this

elect ion those w h o h a d o p p o s e d

R h e e politically

w e r e put in

power. John C h a n g

w a s e l e c t

e d h e a d of t h i s g o v e r n m e n t . In our personal opinion C h a n g h a d a g o o d ,

workable

p r o g r a m

for

recons t r uc t i ng

Korea,

b u t the var ious political par t i es w e r e

unab le

to

c o m e

to

a ny

agreement and

n o

o n e

could muste r

a majority

in

t he legislative b r a n c h s o

t he

whole gov

e r n m e n t a l program, except

for

routine functions,

rema ined

at a standstill. In Korea w e

f ind

a

mul t i tude

of

smal l

political

par t ies ,

e a c h

in tent

u p o n

its

o w n

narrow

aims,

with

n o give

a n d

take between them,

s o that

it is very difficult

to

mus te r a

major i t y

for a ny

program

In 1 9 6 1

a

military committee, h e a d e d

b y

General P a k

C h u n g

H e e , disgusted

with

the g o v

ernment 's

apparent

inability

to function, deposed

t h e

C h a n g

government in an a lmost

bloodless c o u p .

T ^ e

a r m y

s w o o p e d d o w n u p o n Seoul in the ear l y morning h o u r s a n d b y th e

t ime

w e

heard

about

it

in P u s a n t h e

n e w group w a s a l re ady in control. It is this

mili

tary government

that is n o w in power. Al though it is a dictatorship, which is of course

repugnant

to u s ,

not

every th ing

about

this

government h a s been

bad. G r a f t and cor rupt ion

h a ve

at least b e e n t r e m e n d o u s l y d e c r e a s e d in t h e government and t h e routine functions

have been greatly improved.

This

is

in itself

a gigantic accompl ishment . T h e control

of

bu s ines s

a n d

government b y a

ce r ta in

group of m e n h a s b e e n

broken.

A n

austerity program

has been imposed o n t he people in an effort

to

s t rengthen the e c o n o m y and this

has cert

a in

g o o d

features .

A n

effort

h a s b e e n

m a d e

to

take

care

of

the

u n e m p l o y e d

in

a

p r o g r a m

similar to t he W P A of our depress ion days , and a s

an

emergency

step,

this is to

b e

c o m m

e n d e d .

T h e

control of

the farmers

by mercenary

loan sharks

h a s a lso b e e n considerably

lessened

b y g o v e r n m e n t

intervention a n d

this

o n e

step h a s

probably helped

m o r e

people

t han any other s ing le accompl ishment . It is our persona l opinion that Genera l

P a k

is

h i m s e l f

a

dedicated patriot, anxious

to he lp

the c o m m o n people , a l though t he re is

s o m e

r e a s o n

to believe that

this

may not

b e true

of

s o m e

of

his ssoci tes and

there

a r e ru m

ors that s o m e

are attempting to

persona l l y profit,

which would b e

in

line

with the

age-

old Oriental phi losophy

that

those in

power are

entitled

to such profit.

A s

t he

records

of h i s tory s h o w , p o w e r

often

corrupts , a n d there is s o m e r e a s o n

to

bel ieve

tha t p e r h a p s

this m a y b e occur r ing in General Pak ' s

c a s e

a n d h e is

re luc tan t to

give u p

control , al

though

h e h a s recently promised that

elections

will

b e h e ld in t h e

fall of

I963

and

a

civilian government will t a k e over on or abou t J a n u a r y 1, I964. T h e

attitude

of t he av-


10/26

Korea

... - age

9

erage

Korean

is that

of the

patient Oriental,

they

will

just

wait

and see. And

we will

do the

samel

As a

student

of

history, it would appear to us that

many of

these things that are

happening i n the political life

i n

Korea today

are similar to

the

problems and

conflicts

that were current during the

founding

days

of

our own nation. With the history

of

sub-

jagation

and

lack of opportunity

for

politi cal expression

which the Korean people

long

endured,

i t

will take time and

education

before a truly representative government will

be

able to function in Korea.

From the standpoint

of

an American,

the

Korean people are incredibly poor. It is

difficult

to appreciate just how

dire

this poverty is, even when one lives

in

the

midst

of it.

Perhaps

we can comprehend part of

it

by examining

three facets

of

Korean

life,

the wage scale, the housing conditions

and

the diet.

The wage scale is

almost unbelievable.

Teachers are considered to be

among

the high

est

class

in Korea, (as we wi ll show in the

following secti on), and

receive comparitive-

ly

high

salaries.

A

high-school

teacher,

university

graduate with a

number

of years

of

experience, will receive about

^50

to l ^ 6 0 a month on the average. Most

laborers

work

for le ss than a dollar a day.

A

good carpenter

can be

employed for

(^1.50

a day. It

i s

apparent that

the

standard of living cannot be

very

high with

this

wage scale.

The diet of the

Korean

people is essentially rice, not

rice along

with other mai n

di shes, but essentially rice .

If

possible

this

is

accompanied

by

a

small amount

of

fish

and some vegetable, and

almost

always at

least

a small

amount

of the pickled cabbage,

"kimchi." I ^ I a n y , if not most,

of

the Korean people have only

2

eals

a day.

The housing situation is acute, especially as

viev;ed

from an American standpoint.

Many, many

Korean families li ve

i n only

one

room,

and

most

in not

more than t v f o . It is

only the

few

relatively high income

families

who have a house to themselves. According

to

the

latest available

figures, the

average family

consists of 5.6

individuals.

It is

also the q uite

common

thing to fi nd two

generations

of

a

family

occupying

the same

dwelling. This i s possible only because of the style of their living. Their homes are

1 1 1 not

cluttered with

furniture. They sit on the

floor,

eat on the

floor, sleep

on the

floor. In the morning the

pads

on which they sleep are rolled up and put away; the

small

tables

on

which

they eat

are

brought out

only

at meal

time.

This

is a practical

way of life under their crowded conditions.

Many, many people

are

totally unemployed and

countless thousands

of others work only

part-time.

Some figure s which we saw

recently said

that 20% of the heads of

families

are

totally

unemployed.

One of the most unfortunate features of the

division

of the

country

is that most

of

the electric pov/er

and

heavy

industry are

i n the

part known

as

North Korea

while

South Korea

has

most of the agricultural lands

and at

the same time

the large majority of the

population, who

could be employed i n the heavy industries are

now located i n

South

Korea.

This

is

one

of the big

reasons

for the excessive

unemploy

ment.

The devastation of the

war

i s

also

an important contributing

factor.

Efforts are

being made to

industrialize

South Korea but this takes tremendous capital, which nei ther

the people nor

the

government

have,

and not only must the

industrial

plants be

built

but

thermal electric plants must be built for power, for the cheaper hydro-electric power

located

i n

North

Korea

is no

longer available

to

South Korea.

As

we have

indicated,

the poverty

i s

extreme.

Even

living

among these people we have

not

been

able

to

determine

how

some of

them

manage to

survive. For the majori ty

of the

people

i t i s not

a livi ng standard, but rather

a

survival standard,

that

occupies thei r

thoughts.

You can well

imagine

that

when

a man is absorbed with the

problem

of where

the next

meal for himself

and his family is coming from, it

is rather

difficult to

inter

est him i n spiritual things. One of the things that we have

observed

is that the

strong

ense

of family and family responsibility

instilled by

Confucian principles has helped

to

enable some families to survive. As long as a member of a family has funds he is re-

sponsible to assist other members

of

the family, and the Korean sense of family extends

much farther than our v / n idea of immediate family, reaching

out

to what we sometimes

refer to as "forty-second cousins."

on material things, and perhaps our

bols could

learn something

from them here.

T ^ ^

K o r e a n s

h a v e

l e a r n e d

n o t t o p ut

s o

m u c h v a l u e

on material things,

and perhaps our

society, with its mad

rush to acquire

"status

sym-


11/26

Korea

. . .age

10

4. Social

Situation-

Korea,

like

all Oriental countries^ i s

cursed

with a

class

society. The divisions

of society there are

not

based upon wealth but rather upon

the

old Confucian teachings

which go back for hundreds

of

years.

As

i t has been explained to us there are four

classes of society i n

Korea. They

are

the

scholars,

the

farmers, the soldiers and the

businessmen.

The first

class

are

the

scholars,

and

they are placed first

because they

impart the

most

precious

thing i n the

world, knowledge, to

other

people.

Most

of us

would

admit

that

this is superior to our own V ^ f e s t e r n

idea of

wealth

or

family bringi ng some super

iority.

The

second

class are the farmers,

and

as the term is used here it means those vho

own

the

farmland

and employ

others to work i t

for them,

although i t

would

perhaps i n

clude

the

man

who

owns his ovm snail

farm

and works it. These are

given

some

standing

i n

the

community because they produce

food for the

people. Most

of

us

would

agree with

this.

The

third class are

the soldiers, and

i n their usage

this

would

mean the officer

class. We might perhaps wonder about this classification but if we

remember

the his

tory

of

t^ese

people

and

the

endless

wars

they have

undergone then

those who protect

the

people would

naturally

receive some standing.

The fourth

class are

the businessmen,

and

their

class is considered to be considerab

ly

lower than the third class.

To

the Western mind, accustomed as we are to the import

ance of business, this

relegating

of the

businessmen

to such a

low

position

is

extreme

ly

difficult to understand. The

e:q)lanation

given i s

that

the businessmen produce noth

ing, merely exchanging

goods from one

person to

another, and making a profit

v r f i i l e

doing

it.

In actual practice there

i s

another class, the labori ng cl ass,

but

in the Oriental

social system these people are not

even

considered to

be

a part

of the

social system'.

These

social distinctions,

although perhaps not

as

r igid

as

the caste

system of

India

and

although they

are

beginning

slowly

to

disappear,

are nevertheless strict,

and those

of

the higher

class

have

as

little

as possible

to do with

those of lower

classes.

The

work

of

Korean Broadcasting

Mission has

developed most in the direction

of the

students

and

teachers or professional

people, and

although

this

was

not

done with

this

social distinction i n view, nevertheless

it

i s fortunate that this happened,

for

if

we

are to grow in Kore a we are going to have

to

find our leadership

among

this class. The

leaders in every other activity i n Korean

life

come from the upper classes and at least

for the

present, Christi anity

will

have to do the same. Although we may

not

like

this

social

system,

and although i t may

be

contrary to Christian teaching, the situation does

exist

and

it will

for

some

time. Changes

will only come with

long,

patient teaching.

5.

Religious

ituation-

We have

spoken

of the three predominant religi ous expressions - hamanism, Buddhism

and

Confucianism

-

n the

opening

part of

this syllabus. Our observation

of

Korean life

has been

that Korea

is essentially a land without

an

organized religion. Buddhism is

the

largest

organized religious group and the most authoritative figures indicate that

only

2-3j000,000

Koreans claim

to

be Buddhi sts.

Of

these

many

are not

really

practic

ing Buddhi sts. Out of

some

25-27,000,000 people this i s not

a

large percentage

for

the

largest organized religi ous group. This does not mean that the Korean

people

are

ath

eists

or

anti-religious^ we might better express i t by saying that they are nonreligious.

Today it is claimed that

there are some 500,000

Roman

Catholics in Korea. V J e do

not

know

just

hov;

accurate these

figures

are but

our personal

observation

would

indicate

that this

is a high estimate. It

is

also our personal observation

that

Roman Catholic

ism seems to have had little influence upon the life or

thought of

the Korean people.

The estimate of Protestants in Korea

i s

something over 1,000,000. This

too is

a

small percentage

of the

total

population.

But i t is our impression

that

Protestant

Christianity has

extended an

influence upon Korean life and thought far out of proport

ion to its

numbers. Perhaps

the reason

for this i s the

tremendous

help

they

have

given

in

the

field

of

education and the concern the church has shown i n

a

material way i n

we l

fare

and relief activities.


12/26

Korea . ..age 11

T ^ e

f i r s t

of

the w o r k

of

t h e C h r i s t i a n

C h u r c h c a m e

f r o m

c o n t a c t s

b e t w e e n s o m e

of

o u r

missionaries i n Japan and Korean Christians there. Prior to 1935^ John T. Chase,

now

minister

of

First

Christian

Church i n Downey,

California,

was

working

with both Koreans

and Japanese in Tokyo.

'

In 1936,

Mr.

Chase

c a i n e

to

Korea

and remained until 1940, during

which time

6 ongregations

were established, 6 ible

schools

carried

on, and

several

hundred

baptized.

This work was known as

Korean

Christian Mission. In 1939? John J.

Hill j o i n e d the work. During V J o r l d

V J a r II

these w o r k e r s h a d

to

leave Korea, but the

work was taken

up

again in 1948, It was again interrupted by the Korean V J a r . During

1954

^

seminary building was

constructed.

Much relief

work was carrie d on after

the

'

a r

a n d

there

w e r e

many p r o b l e m s relating

to

the r e h a b i l i t a t i o n

of

the c h u r c h work. The

best available

figm'es

say

that

the congregations grew

to 75 and

the

seminary

students

to 40. .

Various problems caused both

Mr.

Chase and Mr. Hi ll to withdraw from the work

and

in

1955, Harold Taylor, who

h a d . v r o r k e d as

a missionary in both China and Japan, came from

Tokyo to

Seoul

to direct t h e .

v i o r k

of Korean Christian Mission. The seminary course was

organized on a series of 6-week units, which made it possible for missionary teachers

from Japan to

come

to help in this

v / o r k .

In

1957>

Dick

Lash,

now located in another

work in Kangnung, joined the work of Korean Christian Mi ssion. Mr. Taylor found after

investigating the ^ ^ o rk

in Korea

that

in

many cases unscrupulous workers among

the

Korean

churches

had

usurped

authority

and

that

the s e m in a r y

w a s operating

on

e x tr e m e ly

lo w

standards with some of the

teachers

xinqualified in various w a y s

a n d

with

m a n y of the

s tuden ts no t high schoo l g radua tes

and

n o t spiritually minded .

It

was

d e c i d e d

to c lose

this

school in 1957-58. The

property

was sold an d

new

property

in

a more suitable

loc

ation

purchased.

N e w buildings

have been constructed

and a new

school

for

the training

of

Christian

workers

was

opened

in April

1963*

A n effort has been made, with some

success , to have

a

better qualified faculty

and a

higher s tandard

for

students.

Approx

imately

40

s tuden ts

enrolled at

the

open ing

of the

new school. With a few except ions

these students a r e high school g r a d u a t e s an d a r e p a y i n g tuition a d e c i d e d

i m p r o v e m e n t

ove r 1955. Mr.

Taylor

is assisted

in the work

b y Gordon

Patten,

w h o c a m e to

Korea

in

1962.

Missionaries now

working in Korea are . a s follows: Harold Taylor a nd Go rd o n Patten of

Kor ean

Christian

Mission in Seoul; Dick Lash, who has

a

work on the east coast in

Ka n g

nung; John J.

Hill

w h o has

returned

to

Korea and now works in

Tae jon ;

Bert

Ellis

of

Korean

Broadcasting

Mission

on

the south

coast in

the second city of Korea , Pusan.

Korean

Christian Mission

a n d Korean

Broadcasting

Mission

are

e n g a g e d

in a

program

of

mutual assistance: while the Ellis family is on furlough, Mr.

Patten

a n d Mr. Taylor are

assisting the Korean

staff of

Korean

Broadcasting

Mission in

Pusan; upon the return of

Mr. Ellis

he

will assist as

time permits

with the teaching of

the

new

schoo l

sponsored

b y Korean Christian Mission

in

Seoul, Other m utual

projects are

planned or

under

con

sideration.

m on t h l y

magaz ine ,

One Way, has

been

pub l i shed b y Korean

Christian

Miss ion s i n ce

1957

a n d

workers

of K o r e a n Broadcasting Mission have made contributions to this.

The

work

of K o r e a n Broadcasting Mission.will b e

considered

in

detal

in

the

follow

ing section of this syllabus.

Although it

is

dfficult

to

get accurate

figures,

it

is

be l i eved

that

in

1959

lat

est

figures

w e have available), there were

80

congregations,

4 5

chupch worke rs

and

abou t

2,000 members of the

Christian Church

in

Korea .

One

should bear in m i n d that all of

these congregations are

small, with

not m o r e than two or three,

i

hat m a n y , having

a s

m a n y

as 100 members . Few of them a r e fully organized after the New T es tam ent pattern

with a

multiplicity of elders

a n d

deacons.

T o some

these results m a y

seem

disappointingly

small

but we believe that

with the

n e w

school in Seoul

and

various

new approaches

to old prob lems ,

the

work has

a

bright

future

in Korea, While

the progress

has b e e n

slow in

comparison to

some of the work here

in

America, dstinct progress

has b e e n m a d e

a n d

we believe itwill continue

to grow a n d

in

crease.

Let

us r e m e m b e r

that,

I^Ir. Chase , our

first

missionary to Korea,

went

there only

27

years a g o a n d

the work has b e e n twice interrupted

a n d

devastated

by

wars

during the

intervening

years.


13/26

Korea

. .

Page 13

staff, however, for the actual broadcasting.

As

the staff became more proficient some

of the

programs

were turned

over completely

to them, with the missionary

supervising and

checking from time

to

time.

It

i s hoped that this part

of the

work

can expand i n

that

direction.

These programs were continued until

some

months before

we came home

on furlough,

when

Bert became ill, and it was necessary

to

cut the work schedule. The radio programs

have

not continued during hi s furlough, due

to

the fact that no mi ssionary is on the

field as e3q)ected, and

the

Korean staff cannot yet carry on the complete schedule.

It

is

intended

to

resume

the

broadcasts

when

we return

to

Korea.

A fortunate

business arrangement was worked

out

with the

station, whereby

with

a

smal

investment and assistance to the station, the mission was able to broadcast at a greatly

reduced

rate,

arrangement

has

continued

until the

present

time and the mi ssion now

has

broadcasting time

paid

for some

time

ahead. Mr.

Willi am Grouse,

a

Christian

busi

nessman

of

Havertown,

Pennsylvania

has been

of

invaluable

assistance

i n

this, investing

both

his time and money sacrificially.

HLKU operates

like

a radio station i n the

States

with

popular type broadcasting which

attracts

the listeners

and a

government

survey

has estimated that

i n

the

evening

hours

the

station has

80^

of

the listening audience

i n the Pusan

area. A

conservative e stim

ate

would place

this

at

over 1,000,000

listeners.

The

mission's

program i s

heard

at

one

of the best times i n the evening

schedule.

O j ^ e of the

disappointing things

at

first was

the

lack

of mail response to

the

radio

programs but it was

found

that this is characteristi c

of

the

Korean

listener.

A

survey

made by Korean workers

of

the mission going door

to

door

in a

district

picked

at random

i n the city of Pusan found that the

large

majority of those interviwed listened to the

program

every evening.

It has also

been

our

experience

that

when

visiting

or

on busi

ness

a n y v r t i e r e

in

the area, if

the name

of

the

program

or mission i s mentioned, the

peop

le

recognize

i t and

tell us

that they listen

regularly to the

program.

Although

the

mission

is new

and

small it is

better known

than

most

of the

missions

in the area. Rad

i o

has

had great prestige value for us and

this

i s helpful

i n

the Korean work.

From the above findings

we

believe that the best way to utilize the radio work is to

put Korean

workers in the

field, visiting the homes, capitalizing

upon

the

introduction

the

radio program has obtained. This has not been

done

to any degree

because

of the

press

of

other activi ties. Another missionary

i s needed

who

will take the

responsibil

ity for

supervising

the

p r o g r a m

and

directing a n d training

the

Korean w o r k e r s

in their

activities. Radio has already proved its value in the work but it has not been capital

ized upon

as

it could be i f there were

more

workers.

2. Student

Work-

The student work began with Bi ble classes in

the

home

of

the missi onary. This was

expanded after the mission had a permanent location with classes meeti ng 4 r

5 nights

a

week.

The student

work

really came

into

its own,

however,

when

Miss

Suh Jueng

Doh

was

added

to

the

mi ssion staff. Mi ss Suh i s a universi ty graduate with a degree i n Religi ous Ed

ucation, 27 years of age (1963)

and

before joini ng the mission was secretary

of

the

Pus

an branch

of

the YWCA, one

of

the largest and most respected Christian

organizations

i n

Korea, After

working with

us for

about

a

year

she

asked

that

she might be

immersed,

and

i s an outspoken exponent

of

the Restoration position.

She was

a Presbyterian, in fact

a member of a

third-generation Christian

family,

which

i s as far back as Christi anity

goes in Korea. She is one of the

most

capable workers we have

ever known and

her sweet,

patient Christian character makes her

a

joy

to

associate with.

Soon after joining the work she began organizi ng

student Bible clubs. These clubs

meet once each week in

the

chapel

for

Bible

study and

devotional

expression. At

the

present time

there

are

4

igh

school

clubs

and 1

ollege

club with a total of

about

125

students enrolled. In addition to

these

meetings

the

groups have

been

meeting

together

on Saturday afternoons twice a month for a

Bible

course taught

by

Gordon

Patten

on his

visits

to

Pusan. Social gatherings

are

held from time

to

time and once each month the

clubs

meet

together

for

a joint

service.

These

clubs

are similar to the youth activities

in America except perhaps

for

a greater emphasis upon a regular Bible study course.


14/26

K op e^

.

.

.

- Fage: 14

O y . Q of the

best activi t ies

h a s b e e n a s u i n m e r

c a m p

he ld

for

four d a y s at a s e a s i d e re

s o r t in t h e svpiier

of

I96I. A total

o f 7 5 s t u d e n t s

spent t hes e

ds^s. in activities s a m ^

iiar to American . c h u r c h c a m p s . Harold Taylor, ' B p .

a n d

Mrs. H a n ' (Bp, Hail is pres iden t

of o n e of

Korea'

s

fine u n ivers i t ies ) , .

Mr.

G h o o viio is principal

of

o n e of Pusan 's b e s t

hi ' schools . Bro t her Lm w h o m in is t e r s

to; a leper cor^regation

o f alniost 1,000 ' m e m b e i v

.ship, Ber t a n d M a r g e Bllis,. a n d m e m b e r s ' o f t he

mi ss i o n ' s

K o r e a n staff ass is ted M i s s ' 5^^

in

this

program. T h e r e w e r e 1 1

bapt ized

at the cipse o f

c a m p . It is

h o p e d to m a f c e this

an annual feature of the .student work.

I^.

and 'Mrs.

Ellis

w o u l d like

to

spend

t h e major

portion

of

their

t d me

m

their

re-^

t T L ^ i i to K o r e a

in t he

d e v e i o p m h t o f this s tuden t work. U n d e r Miss

S u h ' ' ' . s d i rec t ion it

is

planned

to

d e v e l o p . a n d pr in t p r o g r a m a r i d study materials w h i c h will b e f u rn i ^e d to

vo l

unteer workers

in

various

par t s

of

Korea

v A i o will

develop:

t hes e c l ubs in their

oi area.

Plans caii for bringing these workers

to

P u s a n

for a shor t course f r o m ^ t ime to t ime in

the d e v e l o p m e n t of these

clubs.

Gur

f i m a . 1 1

congregation,

n o w k n o w n

a w

t h e T o n g K ' w a n g

Church,

f rom its l ocat ion in th e

Toiig K w a n g area

d o w n t o ' w n

in Pusan, had its beginn ing in t h e Ellis home.

A s

w e no ted

prev ious ly , serv ices

were m o v e d

to a downtown

re n te d hall

in

September , 1 9 5 9

end

t hen to

p u r

p r e s e n t location

in

February , I96O.

Contac t s

were

m a d e

throu^

our

Bible

c lasse s

and

radio

announcements.

A

Bible

c lass

w a s

h e l d at 10 :00 each S u n d a y m prning.

A

series, o f l essons w a s

worked ou t

e3q)lain^

t h e natu re of sin, vhy w e n e e d a

Saviour, how

t h e sacrifice of

C h r i s t

atones

for

sin,

h o w

w e can

receive

Christ as our Saviour an d

other basic truths. A

manuscript w as pre

.pared 3 j a b o t h Eng l i sh and Korean and co.pies were m a i l ed to e a c h one on our m aila r^ list

du r ing t h e w e e k prev ious to t he lesson .

After

t h e l ec tu re o n Sunday morning

b y

B e r t ,

t h e q u e s t i o ns

on

t h e e m s m s en t o u t "wi th t h e

l e s s on were d i s c u s s e d and ans'wered and

th e

s t u d e n t s corrected

their papers and

d i s c u s s e d

the questions a n d -

an swers .

M o s t of t h o s e

at tend ing

are

h igh schoo l o r

co l lege s t u d e n t s o r

teachers

o r

o t h e rs w i t h co l lege ' educat-

ion

are well-educated and have keen , inquiring m i n d s . T h ey study the l e s s o n s dili

gen t ly c o m e prepared for t h e

d i scu ss io n .

V J e have tried

to teach

o n e

bas ic

truth in

e a c h of these lessons. This class of late h a s b e e n studying a detailed series of less

ons on the life of Christ, It is n ecessary to kn ow exactly w h a t y o u

believe

and

*diy

if

you

are

to

convince this

c l a s s

o

ellis bert marjorie 1974 korea

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